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Honeymoon to Italy...venice is certain..then what?

My fiancé and I are going to europe for a honeymoon. We fly in to barcelona, spend a few days there, then go on a 7 night cruise (florence/ pisa, rome, capri, etc) and after our cruise we will spend another week in europe. We have decided that Venice is for certain, but are trying to plan out the remaining honeymoon. Thoughts? We both love shopping, fine dining, sightseeing, lounging beachside, to name a few.

These are some options for the time we have sept 8-13 (flying home on sept. 14)

If you don't already have your plane tickets, you could fly into Barcelona and home from Paris. Fly to Paris from Venice. Five days is a great amount of time for Paris. If you already have your tickets, choose a place or places convenient to your departure city.

Have dinner at Ristorante da Ivo in Florence (http://www.ristorantedaivo.com/). The food is amazing, and the restaurant is very small (approx.10 tables) and romantic. It is very expensive (even for Venice) but worth it. You can reach it on foot and by water.

I would fly from Barcelona to Nice, spend a few days on the Cote d'Azur, then fly from NIce to Venice. If you still have extra days do day trips out of Venice like Padova, Verona, Ferrara. Catch a return flight out of Venice or Bologna.

Good idea to spend a couple days in Barcelona pre-cruise. I assume the cruise will end someplace other than Barcelona....will that be Venice or elsewhere in Italy, from which you plan to travel to Venice? If so, I would suggest you stay 3 nights in Venice, then fly or take the train to Paris nd spend the rest of your time in Paris, fly home from there.

As a 1st generation Italian, I have been all over Italy and to several spots in Europe. It seems that you want romance and culture, fun and exciting yet relaxing and cool. Here is my suggestion:

Venice is amazing and romantic, but you only need to stay 2 days tops.

Florence is OK. It's very American and the food is not a good representation of what Italian food really is. Honestly, I say skip Florence completely. (If you are dying to go, make it a stop off day trip. Trust me, it's plenty of time)

If you want to really eat, Bologna is the most incredible and affordable food in all of Italy (my family is not even from there so this is not a bias opinion) Near there is Perugia. Both are extremely tiny "cities". Mostly you go for the food, not for the environment or sites.

Rome is my favorite city, as every corner is a breathtaking cultural romance. The Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, piazzas, Vatican, cafes. I was only sup. to stay there for 2 days and ended up staying for 4 because I fell in love with that city.

From Rome, you can take the train to Amalfi Coast, which I have to HIGHLY suggest you go to! I took train from Rome-Naples and then ferry from Naples to Capri. Capri is unbelievable. The air, the food, the people, the sites. The blue grotto is incredible. You can spend a night or two in Capri, then take Ferry back to mainland and go to Positano, Ravello and Amalfi. Choose homebase in one of those places and then do day trips to the others.

If you don't want to go too south in Italy, and want to stay North, I suggest doing Lake Como. Bellagio is very beautiful and the little towns around there have amazing food!

The suggestions I have depend on this: Is your cruise returning to Barcelona? If it does, what is the last port before Barcelona? If it does not return to Barcelona, where does it end? When are you going?

I just reread your question and realized you are going to Capri on the cruise. But if you are not doing the mainland of Amalfi, I still suggest it!

Also, Paris is amazing. If you want to get the most out of Europe then def. go there. I spent 4 days there and was so sad to leave. Just so romantic and special. If you go there, you MUST eat at Les Papilles (http://www.lespapillesparis.fr/EN_index.html) The best food I had (besides in Italy of course).

Amsterdam is fun too. If you are coming across from the states, you'll be amazed how close all these places are..1.5 hrs in a plane will get you between most the places mentioned.
Also, Prague is beautiful.

To clarify...our cruise leaves from Barcelona, and returns to Barcelona. Once we dock in Barcelona (after our cruise) we will fly to Venice (sept 8) and spend a few days there....and we are having a hard time deciding where to finish off our honeymoon.....these are the contenders: Rome, Paris, or amalfi coast!

We need to buy international tickets soon...and will fly in to barcelona, and out of ???

I am having a hard time deciding and fiancé is pressuring me to make a decision ASAP!

All of your input is really helpful- the more details you have (about cities) the better- thank you so much!

I too would opt for amalfi coast, it may be quicker to fly direct from Venice to Naples early morning if it's possible. Ravioli is a lovely looking romantic spot with lovely but perhaps expensive looking hotels with amazing food. Amalfi also a great choice. Wile sorento is nice, it is what I think of as the gateway to amalfi coast rather than the amalfi coast proper. It is mvery nice and pretty all around the coast with the most amazing blue sea and delicious food.

Or the cinque terre or lake como in the north so better suited for Venice would also be romantic spots in my opinion.

What kind of trip are you looking for after Venice? Quiet and relaxed in a small town or hustle and bustle trying to see everything you can?

I think that will matter a lot. Rome and Paris are incredible, and there is a lot to see, so you probably will want to do as much as you can which means a lot of walking but also seeing incredible things. Picnics under the Eiffel Tower or picnic dinner on the Spanish steps or Trevi. Either city you can slow down at some points and make it really special.

Amalfi is much more laid back. If $ is a concern, there are PLENTY of hotels to stay at. (i.e. don't stay in Capri, stay in AnaCapri) etc. There are still things to do and palces to see but you have the option of going to the beach and doing nothing as well. The surrounding cities (Ravello, Amalfi, Positano, Sardinia etc. all all a short bus or taxi or boat ride away.

Since you will have seen a good bit of the Med on your cruise, I suggest, due to limited time, you do Venice and Lake Como ( Bellagio or Varenna) You could fly back from Milan if you do Lake Como. you can easily use trains and transport to Milan from the Lake is easy. Paris and Rome and all the rest can be visited on anniversaries

I know I'm biased but I'd spend the whole time in Venice - 7 days isn't a lot. (Before moving here we'd spent a total of 8 weeks over 6 holidays here, and still felt we'd only scratched the surface.) You don't want to be rushing round and getting stressed and tired on your honeymonn, do you? So just end with a semi-relaxing week in the most beautiful city in the world! Florence is good for shopping but it's also incredibly crowded and to me, stress-inducing. One full-on location (Barcelona) is enough, surely!

You really have only 5 days between your return to Barcelona and your departure for home on the 14th. That isn't enough time for the Amalfi Coast and Venice. There are plenty of options near Venice for a day trip or two. I would stay in Venice.

Since we are going to be "go-go-go" on the cruise, we are thinking to do venice and amalfi coast...fiance is really pushing that idea!

Talillama: you make a great point...and I think that perhaps for a honeymoon it may be better to "relax" at a bit slower pace in amalfi? My only concern is there not being enough to do...but I suppose if the beaches are amazing - i could be content spending parts of my day in a bikini beachside. Fiance is suggesting we stay in Sorrento, and take day trips to the other cities....I'm thinking it may be easier to stay in Amalfi? Which is the most developed, nicest city? With nice beaches?

The more I read, the more I'm realizing we may be spreading ourselves too thin by wanting to be on the "go go go" the entire honeymoon...at the same time, we don't want to be "bored". We're in our mid twenties with lots of energy..

uhoh_busted: Is there much to do in Lake Como? Feel this may be a bit to down tempo for us..

We went to Italy last year and visited Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Vatican City. Venice is very small and our 2 days there were plenty. You can visit San Marco Square, Rialto Bridge and walk along the canal all in one day. Florence was beauitful too with main attractions being the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and the Uffizi Art Gallery. We also made a day trip to Pisa to climb the Leaning Tower. Total of 3 days were plenty, even 2 would suffice. We absolutely fell in love with Rome - this city is so amazingly beautiful with the Colosseum (be sure to do the underground tour), Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps. We also made a day trip to Vatican City to tour the museum and visit St Peter's. Absolutely amazing. We spent 4 days there and wished we had another 4. Would go back there in a heartbeat.

On the other hand, you cannot beat the romantic feeling in Paris. This city can make anyone fall in love! We spent 4 days here and were blown away by its beauty. IMO, it is a must-go for a honeymoon! It is so relaxing just walking along the Seine and people watching over a cafe and fresh croissant. Best of luck with your planning and have a great time!

Lake Como is very romantic. You can take the ferry to multiple towns, but the views of the mountains and lake are simply splendid from many places. Shopping is fun. The great villas are beautiful. It is very difffent from being at a beach town. We did some hiking, and even took a daytrip to Switzerland...but you won't have that much time. Bellagio is gorgeous. Several of the best restaurants are located somehat remotely, but they send a car for you and you are driven home after an amazing meal in a beautiful setting. There are flowers everywhere. I think it would pair nicely with Venice for romance.

Again, with a week after lots of other activity, I'd choose Venice *or* the Amalfi Coast.

My favourite place there is Amalfi itself which has good bus & boat connections to other places if you want to do day trips (e.g. to Positano & Ravello). If you decide on Amalfi, stay at the Hotel Santa Caterina if you can run to it. Positano is probably more visually stunning but personally I don't like it as much, as it's just a tourist resort. Sorrento is not actually on the Amalfi Coast and IMO is rather tacky - lots of British package tours go there - plus you can't actually see the sea from most of the town, just from the grand hotels on the cliff edge. Although I love the Amalfi Coast I can't say the beaches are 'amazing', though - they are stony and mainly quite small - but I enjoy them.

I asked about your last port of call before returning to Barcelona because a couple of times we have gotten off the ship one day early, when it was docking at a port near to where we wanted to end up rather than the last port. You really miss only one night on the ship because you are in port all day and depart the ship early the next day anyway,

For example, if Capri or Naples is your last port of call before Barcelona, you could get off the ship and stay there on the AC and save the time and cost of a flight from Spain to the AC.

We once wanted to go to Lucca and Venice after a cruise that went from Spain to Rome. Rather than spend one more night on the ship just to get to Rome and then have to train back to Lucca, we got off in Livorno and took the train to Lucca, then on to Venice. On another cruise from the Greek Islands to Rome, we got off in Naples to visit the AC for a few days and save back tracking from Rome.

It is just an idea and something that worked for us. Not knowing what your next to last port is, don't know if it might work for you. Some people might feel they are throwing away the last night on the ship, but it was only one night and we felt we were saving a day of travel and travel costs. You do have to tell the cruise company ahead of time that you will be doing that.

Venice, Venice, Venice! I never get tired of Venice. The Amalfi Coast is beautiful but too far. Do that on your anniversary next year.
From Venice you can go to Cinque Terre, Varenna in Lake Como, spend the night in Como before you fly out of Milan. There is a bus from Como to the airport in the early a.m. Cinque Terre had a flood last year so I am not sure what is going on there. I think three of the fishing villages are ok. Get the Rick Steves guidebook and read about Cinque Terre and Varenna in Lake Como.
We combined Rome with the Amalfi Coast one year. We combined Venice with Cinque Terre & Lake Como. Another year we went to Venice, the Dolomites and then Switzerland. We try to group the places and stick to one region.
Don't do Paris in three days, don't do the Amalfi Coast in three days. Don't fly all over the place.
Maria